PROVERBS 1-22006 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Proverbs 1-2

The book

The book of Proverbs is a wonderful book. It's a kind of popular book. Many read through the book of Proverbs on a monthly basis because there's 31 chapters and most months or some of the months have 31 days in them. And so you just read the chapter that corresponds to your day and you can read through the Proverbs over and over and over again and find great insight and truth in that. The book of Proverbs teaches us about wisdom. It teaches us truths

to live by. What is a proverb? A proverb is, according to Pastor Chuck, a short saying that communicates a lot of wisdom. And we get into there's different portions of the book of Proverbs. Chapters one through nine are really some discussion in general about wisdom and the contrast between wisdom and simplicity or foolishness.

and wisdom and immorality and the dangers there. And then in chapters 10 through 29, we have the Proverbs of Solomon. And these are the short sayings that communicate a lot of wisdom. There's a lot of comparison, a lot of contrast and very poetic in nature, according to Hebrew poetry. And then in chapters 30 and 31, we have some various Proverbs from other gentlemen.

as well as Lemuel. And we find those in chapter 30 and 31. Man, much insight to be gained from the book of Proverbs. It's all about wisdom. Now, the word wisdom that's used throughout the book of Proverbs, it's it's

It's literally a derivative of the word that means skill. And it means to be skilled in living, to be skilled in making decisions, to be skilled in determining good and bad. It can be talking about having skill in your trade or in your occupation or having skill at anything you do. And so the book of Proverbs is to give us wisdom or skill that we might live life better.

Well, now it's interesting because it's written by most of them actually are written by Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. We find a little bit of a story. And actually, I had you turn to Proverbs. You'll probably want to put a piece of paper there. Let's jump actually back to First Kings chapter three. I want to show you some of the background. So we get some insight on this man named Solomon. First Kings chapter three. It's a couple of books to the left.

To give us a good introduction to this book, we need to understand who is Solomon and where did he get all of this wisdom? 1 Kings chapter 3 says,

We find in 1 Kings 3 that Solomon is at a place called Gibeon and he's there ministering and sacrificing to the Lord. And there at Gibeon, the Lord appears to Solomon in a dream and he tells Solomon, ask whatever you want and I will give it to you.

And Solomon, he didn't ask for riches. He didn't ask for his enemies to be wiped out or slaughtered. What he asked for was something that you and I need to ask for. It's found in verse 9 of 1 Kings chapter 3.

Solomon says,

And so Solomon, he doesn't ask for the typical things that we might ask for or that others might ask for. He asks for looking at this great task ahead of him, leading God's people. He's just assumed the throne and now he's looking at this humongous responsibility that he has. The whole nation looking to him, relying upon him.

And so we ask God for understanding, for wisdom, that he would be able to lead them, to judge them, to discern between good and evil and do what is right.

Well, God, God's response is found in verse 11 here. He says, then God said to him, because you have asked this thing and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice. Behold, I have done according to your words.

See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. God essentially says, oh, I like that, Solomon. I'm going to give you wisdom more than anybody ever had before you and more than anyone else will have after you. The wisdom of Solomon is very much known here.

Even to this day. And so God gives Solomon wisdom according to his request, because he sees these great tasks and things that are ahead of him, the great responsibilities. And so God responds and he gives it to him. Now, first Kings, just one chapter over, if you turn to chapter four, verse thirty two.

We find the results, or one of the results, of the wisdom that God gave to Solomon. It says in verse 32, he spoke 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005. 3,000 proverbs. Have you ever tried to write a proverb? Something that's short but makes sense and is full of wisdom and good insight? I don't know if I've ever tried, but I think it would be very difficult. And 1,005 songs.

Can you imagine? I was looking it up today and I found that Michael Jackson, in all of his years, he's written maybe a couple of hundred songs. But Solomon wrote one thousand and five songs. The understanding, the wisdom, the discernment that God gave to this man was beyond imagination.

any other man, more than probably we can imagine. He gave him great wisdom above all else. Now, there's a problem though, because Solomon, if you know his life at all,

He started out well. He asked God for wisdom. God gave it to him. He built the temple, established Israel, took Israel to the farthest extent of their borders and just did much. He made silver as common in Israel as stones.

And if you want to come to Israel and march with us and see how many stones there are in Israel, you will be amazed. There's a lot of stones and silver was abundant, common there during the prosperity of Solomon's reign because of his wisdom that God gave to him. But the problem is later on in Solomon's life, he began to fall away and to walk away from God. Turn with me now to 1 Kings chapter 11. A couple more chapters to the right here.

First Kings chapter 11 verse. Let's pick it up in verse three. And he, that is Solomon, had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods. And his heart was not loyal to the Lord, his God, as was the heart of his father, David.

And so we find at the end of Solomon's life, he falls away. His heart is turned away from God specifically because of his wives. Now, this is significant because God had commanded. You can look it up on your own time. Deuteronomy chapter 17 verses 14 through 17. He commanded a few specific thing or things to kings, two of which Solomon commanded.

He blatantly disregarded and did anyways. One of the things was that they were not to multiply horses, which was one of the things we find in the story of Solomon that he did. He went to Egypt, even though God specifically said, don't go to Egypt to get horses. He went to Egypt, he got horses and he brought them back and he multiplied horses in Israel.

But the second thing he did was he multiplied wives. Deuteronomy chapter 17 says, The king is not to multiply wives unto himself. And so we find Solomon at the end of his life, in his old age, he turns away from God as a result of these wives because he was disobedient to begin with and disregarded the word of God. Now, in understanding Solomon and this background,

He teaches us something very important even before we get into the book. Because having written most of the Proverbs and yet falling away in his later years, he warns each and every one of us. These things that we read here in the book of Proverbs are to be taken to heart by us at every age. Solomon in his older age began to turn away and have his heart turned away from God.

And many of you have heard Proverbs before. In fact, many of you have done as I shared at the beginning and read through a chapter of Proverbs a day every day of the month for how many years? But the problem is, no matter what age we are, how long we've been believers in Jesus Christ, or how many times we've read the book, we can study and read them again and again and again, but we're never too old, we're never too mature to walk away from the Lord.

We're never too old or too mature to turn our back and begin to be disobedient to the word of God. And so we learn from Solomon this dangerous lesson that we need to be on our guard. Solomon was wise. He had everything he needed to live right and to walk uprightly, to be blessed by God. But he chose not to. He chose to disobey the word of God. And as soon as you and I do that, we choose disobedience.

To reduce ourselves to infancy. We reduce ourselves. Sin darkens our minds as we're disobedient to God. And we find we might have had lots of wisdom and written 3,000 Proverbs before in our life. But now, in the midst of our sin, we've reduced ourselves to having no understanding. No wisdom. Because we've chosen to be disobedient to God's word. Wisdom is how we live. It's not what we know.

It's how we live that is wisdom. It's a way of life, a lifestyle. Not a lot of information or things that we've memorized, how many times we've read it or anything else. It's the way that we take those things and put them into practice and live them out in our lives. You know, we often look at maybe pastors who have fallen into sin or maybe mature believers who have just gotten involved in sin

Things that are completely wrong and walked away from the Lord. And we say, how could this happen? I mean, they knew the word of God and they could quote it to you even in the midst of their problems, in the midst of their sin and their situation. And they could share with you the word. How is it? What does that mean? How does that happen? Well, yes, they know those things. They've heard those things. They can even teach those things. But they do not live the word of God.

They don't take those things and put it into practice in their life. They do not apply the word. They don't allow the word of God to correct them and direct them. And we need to be careful because we're all susceptible to that. Like Solomon, we must take care to read and study the word of God and then live according to it. Not just being satisfied because we've done our spiritual duty or religious duty and

Read for that day or read for that month or did that thing or accomplished that. But every time we look at the word of God, we must allow it to change us, to transform us, to correct us. In the kitchen, I'm not very helpful. I don't consider myself a cook. I don't consider myself much of anything in the kitchen. I can make cereal and I can make toast. But I've also discovered, you know, I can follow a recipe. But that's it.

Call me to change or substitute or any. I have no idea what you're talking about. My wife is different. She can just kind of I don't know what she does. I think she takes the trash can out and dumps it and then just works this wonderful meal sometimes. It's like, where'd that come from? I don't even know. She doesn't take the trash can. Just exaggerating. OK, but, you know, I can follow a recipe I've discovered and that's enough.

Because in just following directions, even though I don't know what I'm doing, it says stir, so I stir. It says pour it in, so I pour it. I have no idea what it's going to do or how it's going to affect the thing. Man, I struggle with all the little details. Well, like this level on the fire, this level. What's the exact degree that I'm supposed to put this? I think I need a digital one so I can set it specifically exactly. But I can follow a recipe and that is enough. You know, that is wisdom in life.

You don't have to have life all figured out and know all about it and know everything. Wisdom is not that. Wisdom is following God's recipe for life. It's taking his specific instructions and doing them, putting them in practice, walking in those. Disobedience to God reduces us to infancy in our wisdom because we do not have, I lost you for a second, we do not have then the wisdom of God.

Now, I have some examples because we need to see the effects of sin on our society. A couple of funny things that I found today. Dumb things that people do. There's lots of different things that you can find. And some of these, I did try to look them up and see if they're for real. Some of them I found actual news articles. Some of them I didn't. So you could take your pick. But Columbia, Tennessee.

A woman, angry that her husband fell asleep with a lit cigarette that left a burn hole in the mattress, left a lit cigarette on the bed the next day to show him what would have happened had she not caught it in time. The house burned down as apparently expected. So she's trying to prove to him, and so she does it and burns the house down. A Florida man, okay, check this one out. A Florida man who robbed men at gunpoint in their homes, dropped his wallet as he left,

And then called police to ask if they found the wallet. They said that they did, and they asked him to come down and claim it. Which he did. And they arrested him. I like this one. Paul Stiller, 47. Hospitalized in Andover Township, New Jersey. In September, with his wife Bonnie, and his wife Bonnie was also injured.

They were injured by a quarter stick of dynamite that blew up in their car. If you're familiar with firecrackers and TJ, that's an M1000. A quarter stick of dynamite. They were driving around at 2 a.m. and the bored couple lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would happen. But they apparently failed to notice that the window was not open. Laughter

That's why you keep your car dirty when you're doing those type of things. You can see the window's not open. Here's another good one. Christopher Jansen, he was on trial in March in Pontiac, Michigan. He was on trial for possession of narcotics or drugs, and he's defending himself against

And it says he was doing a good job, but he says that he was searched without a warrant. And the prosecutor in the case said, well, the officer didn't need a warrant because of a bulge in Christopher's jacket that could have been a gun. Nonsense, said Christopher, who happened to be wearing the same jacket that day in court.

He handed it over so the judge could see it. The judge, upon searching the jacket, found a packet of cocaine in the pocket and laughed so hard that he required a five-minute recess to compose himself.

Here's another guy representing himself for armed robbery. He was on trial for armed robbery of a convenience store in district court when he fired his lawyer, which was himself. Assistant District Attorney Larry Jones said Newton, age 47, was doing a fair job of defending himself until the store manager testified that Newton was the robber. Newton jumped up, accused the woman of lying, and said, I should have blown your head off.

The defendant paused and quickly added, if I'd been the one that was there. These guys don't have much wisdom. One last one. This is my favorite. Mario didn't laugh that hard, but I hope you will. San Francisco, a man wanting to rob a downtown bank of America, walked into the branch and wrote, this is a stick up. Put all your money in this bag.

He didn't have good spelling, though, so he wrote, this is IZ, a stick up, S-T-I-K-K-U-P, put all your money, M-U-N-Y, in this bag. While standing in line waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller window.

So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo tailor. She read it and surmising from his spelling errors that he was not the brightest light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stick of note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. Laughter

Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, okay, and left. The Wells Fargo teller then called the police who arrested the man a few minutes later as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America. So now you know why we need Proverbs chapter one. Would you turn there with me?

Wisdom is not a lot of information or knowledge, but it's taking God's principles, God's commands and living them out, putting them in practice. And that is the wisdom that the Bible teaches and talks about. Proverbs chapter one. Let's read together first verses one through six. Verse one says the Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity, to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.

In chapter 1, verses 1 through 6...

We find the author, verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. We also find the purpose that we read and understand these Proverbs. He tells us that in verses 1 through 3. The purpose is to know wisdom and instruction. And again, wisdom is taking God's principles and God's commands and applying them. And so to know what God's commands are, the instruction that God gives to us.

It's also a second purpose mentioned there in verses one through three is to perceive the words of understanding, to understand the things that make sense. The difference between good and bad.

And thirdly, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity. In other words, by us reading through and studying these things, we will be learning wisdom and instruction. We'll be perceiving understanding. We'll be learning and receiving instruction of wisdom and justice and judgment and equity. The study of God's word, specifically this book, is very profitable for us.

and practical application in our lives and taking these things and putting them in place and living them out. The book of Proverbs written very many years ago, but dealing with basic human nature, which you and I still have. And so they're very practical things that we learn. The purpose that the Proverbs were written is also written here in verses four through six.

Solomon says, look, we wrote these proverbs. Number one, to give prudence to the simple there in verse four, prudence to the simple. Number two, to give the young knowledge and discretion. You ever been young?

Can you agree that the young need knowledge and discretion? The book of Proverbs was written for this very thing. And thirdly, to increase the learning of the wise. And so it doesn't matter what state we're in. You could be simple or young or wise.

And the book of Proverbs is profitable for all of us. Now, the simple, it's an idea or concept that's used throughout Proverbs, describing a people or a person without understanding. It's a person who does not think for themselves.

Proverbs chapter 14, verse 15 says that the simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps. And so the simple just kind of believe whatever is told to them without any judgment taking place and whether it's right or wrong. The simple do not think ahead, according to Proverbs 22, 3. It says a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

And so the simple are used throughout the book of Proverbs to describe a person who doesn't have understanding, who doesn't consider what's coming next, what might be right or wrong, or that a person might not be telling them the truth or leading them in a right way. The simple, the young, the wise, the

The book of Proverbs was written for all of us. Whatever category that we fit in, or even if we consider ourselves wise, Solomon says, well, increase your learning then. It's good that you're wise. It's good that you have understanding. Increase your learning as we study together. In verse 7 now, we find the theme of the book of Proverbs. It says, "...the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

This is, as I said, the theme of the book of Proverbs. We'll see this and we'll look at it again in chapter nine. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We also see throughout scripture in Psalm 111 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom go hand in hand.

And here in verse 7, he says, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. There's a contrast that's being painted here, a picture that's being painted so that we could see the difference. If we despise wisdom, taking God's word and applying it to our lives, and we despise instruction, someone else telling us what to do, someone else giving us instructions, the recipe for life. If we despise that, we're fools.

We're very foolish. If we think that we know better and we can do it better and we can handle it on our own, we're fools. But the contrast to that, the opposite of knowing or thinking that that I have it all under control, the opposite of that is the fear of the Lord.

And that is the beginning of knowledge. That's where knowledge starts. That's where wisdom begins. So on a quest for wisdom and knowledge, where do we begin? Well, we begin by fearing the Lord. What does that mean to fear the Lord? Fear. It means fear or terror, or in some cases, it's the idea of reverence. We get that idea from it. Now, I want to warn us. I want us to be careful. We should not be too quick to soften our

This word, we say the fear of the Lord and we say, oh, yes, well, that means just reverence. You know, you're not supposed to be afraid of the Lord, but you're just supposed to have a reverence for God. And it is true that God is love, that he is full of mercy and he is full of grace. But we need to know that there's a balance. God is also holy. He is almighty and he is ready to judge. God is love, but he also has mercy.

tremendous wrath that will be poured out. We know during the great tribulation, the wrath of God will be poured out on the world. And not that he changes from a God of love to a God of wrath, but he's both a loving God and a holy God. And the wrath of God is real. And we need to understand it. There is great reason for us to fear the Lord.

To have that sense of awe and, dare I say, terror. We need to understand that God is holy. He hates sin. And you and I, guess what? We're sinful beings. My cord keeps yanking my microphone out of my ear. We're sinful beings. We're sinful creatures. And God hates sin. It puts us in quite a predicament.

In Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 4, God says, behold, all souls are mine. The soul of a father as well as the soul of a son are mine. So you might say, well, no, I came from my parents. No, God says all souls are mine. Every soul, every single one of us belong to God. And then he ends the verse by saying the soul who sins shall die. Please remain seated if you've ever sinned. Everybody sinned. Good.

We've all sinned. We deserve death. God has already pronounced the judgment. If you sin, the punishment, the judgment that you and I deserve is death. Romans 3, 23, we all know it. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So we all belong to God. And yet at the same time, we all rebel against God and we all deserve eternal judgment. But God provided a way.

He made the way, sending his own son, poured out his wrath upon Jesus Christ instead of us, that we might receive his grace and mercy. Psalm chapter 130, verse 4. The psalmist, in speaking to God, says, There is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. God sent his son to receive the punishment, the wrath that you and I deserve.

So that you and I should not have to receive it. But in sending his son, that doesn't mean that just automatically everybody doesn't receive the wrath of God. No, on the contrary, it's those who receive the gift that God gave.

John 3, 16, whoever believes should not perish and have everlasting life. And so God sent his son, poured out his wrath upon him. We've all sinned. We all deserve the judgment that he was given. But there's forgiveness found with God that he might be feared. And so the idea is we should be fearful of the wrath of God, the judgment of God. But he offered us forgiveness that we could forgive.

fearing the judgment that we deserve, respond and receive the forgiveness that he offers, the grace and the mercy that he offers. It's the fear of the Lord that prompts us to receive his forgiveness. If we didn't have a fear of God and his judgment, there's no reason to receive Jesus Christ because there's no judgment. There's no punishment. There's no worries. There's no penalty in judgment of hell. But there is. And we belong to the Lord.

And he's declared the punishment for sin and we all sin. And so in fear of the Lord, we receive his mercy and love and forgiveness, the gift that he offered. If you do not fear the Lord, however, you will experience his wrath. You will. There's no way around it. There's forgiveness found in him that he may be feared. If you do not fear him, you do not have his forgiveness. You will experience sin.

His wrath. The fear of the Lord. Proverbs 8.13 says. Is to hate evil. To turn away from evil. Galatians chapter 6. Verses 7 and 8. Probably something I'll bring up often. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows. That he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh. Will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit. Will of the spirit reap everlasting life. To fear God.

To walk in his ways according to his commandments. That is the beginning of knowledge. That is sowing to the spirit. But to sow to the flesh, you're deceiving yourself. Thinking I can continue going on doing whatever I want to do, living however I want to live, without fearing God, without paying attention to his commandments, without living the way that he has instructed us. Paul says in Galatians, don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked.

You will reap what you sow. If you fear the Lord, you receive his forgiveness. But if you do not fear the Lord, you will receive his wrath. If you want to be a fool and despise wisdom and instruction, God gives you that choice. But we need to be warned. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Going on in verses 8 and 9, it says, My son...

The term my son here is used quite often throughout this beginning chapters in the book of Proverbs.

There's some discussion as to who this is referring to. Some have suggested that David is writing these things to Solomon. Others have suggested that it's the Lord. When the Lord appeared to Solomon, that it's the Lord saying these things and speaking these things to Solomon. Others say it seems more likely that Solomon is writing these things possibly to a son, but more likely to a young person and speaking endearingly towards him. My son, just like God calls us his children.

And so this is speaking to all of us as children of God. Whoever is writing, it's a call for us to listen. And specifically here in verses 8 and 9, to hear the instruction of your father and not forsake the law of your mother. To listen to our parents, to receive their instruction and to hold on to it. God has given us parents for a reason. He has given them much more experience than us. At least, you know, 18, 19, 20, maybe more years of experience than

And he's given them to us for a purpose. And so Solomon says, receive those things, receive and hold on to them. You'll be so blessed. They will become an adornment, an ornament to you. If you do, he continues on in verses 10 through 19, describing some of the things instructing his son. He says in verse 10, my son, if sinners entice you,

Verse 11.

Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, but they lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners."

Solomon says, my son, here are instruction. And here's one of the things we want to tell you. If sinners entice you, do not consent. Don't agree and don't give in to those things. If sinners entice you, meaning if they persuade you or seduce you or try to deceive you, don't give in to those things and don't believe their lies. This is the challenge to wisdom in life because we are easily enticed.

Whether it's for the approval of people or the attaining of wealth or the achieving of position, we're easily enticed and led astray. We're easily taken captive by these thoughts and imaginations, by these ideas. Here Solomon says in verse 13, We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us. Let us have one purse. Oh man, just join us.

Yeah, there's these things, but man, look at what we're going to have. We're going to put everything together. It's going to be luxurious and we're going to have all that we could imagine and all that we could ever want. And it's going to be great. And our eyes start, you know, getting the little hypnotized spiral. Oh, we're so easily enticed. And Solomon says, don't let it happen. Don't consent. Don't give in to that.

Verse 15, my son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path. Now, every person who has a parent understands how hard it is to listen to them, right? Especially when you're young. I don't want to hear what they have to say. We hate instruction from our parents or our spouse or anyone else. We always think that somehow whoever gives us instruction is just trying to rob us of some joy or keep us from something really great. But the reality is,

We should not be enticed by the wicked. We should heed the instruction given because what they do is for their own destruction. Look at verse 17. Surely in vain the net is spread inside of any bird, but they lie in wait for their whose blood, their own blood. They lurk secretly for whose life, their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

He's giving him the instruction not to take away and steal away some joy or some great thing, but to protect him. Son, if you if you're a part of that, if you're a part of of that greed or we're seeking after that thing and disobeying the word of God, it's going to be for your own destruction. You're going to destroy yourself. You think you're lying in wait for them so that you can get their possessions, but you're lying in wait for yourself and

You're going to be the death of yourself if you continue on with them. Don't go with them, son. Don't be enticed by sin because the wages of sin is death. James chapter 1 verse 15. James tells us that when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. That's a spiritual law. It happens.

Sin brings death. And so we're given these instructions and these warnings that we might save ourselves from that. It might look good, enticing. You might desire it. But if it's contrary to the word of God or if God's people or godly people are warning you about it, stop. Don't go. Don't be enticed. Open your eyes. There's a couple of people counseling you and saying, hey, I don't think you should be doing that or going that way. Stop.

Receive the wisdom and instruction in the Lord because it's for your own protection. Sin brings death.

As we go on now in verses 20 through 27, we find that wisdom is personified. And we find that a few times throughout Proverbs. We'll see portions like this where wisdom is personified, which means that it's written as if wisdom were a person. And we're speaking and doing the things that are mentioned. Now, of course, wisdom is not a person, but it's just part of the literary style of the Proverbs. It gives a different perspective, a better picture maybe in our minds of

Of what is happening. And so let's read together. Verses 20 through 27. It says wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses at the openings of the gates in the city. She speaks her words. How long you simple ones will you love simplicity.

For scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke. Surely I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you because I have called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke.

I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Here's wisdom calling out to the simple. She's calling out loudly saying, you don't have to be simple. You're not cursed to be simple. You can have wisdom. I love this portion of scripture because it tells us that anybody can obtain wisdom. And that's so encouraging. It's not about how smart you are or what IQ you have or how well you did in school or if you went to college or if you graduated from high school. Anybody. Anybody.

The simple can have wisdom if you'll just receive instruction, if you'll just receive the recipe and follow the recipe that God has given for life. Now, scorners, on the other hand, wisdom mentions that they delight in scorning or mocking and fools. They they hate knowledge. But if you receive instruction and turn at rebuke, you will be wise. If you see in the word of God and you see wisdom.

From others around you. What God says about the things that you're involved in. And you turn from those things that are contrary to God. You're wise. But if you turn your head and continue on. Mock. You're a fool.

You don't fear the Lord. In verses 24 through 27, it says, you know, since you mocked at my rebuke and since you laughed at my instruction, guess what? Verse 26, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror comes. Again, don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Galatians 6 says,

If you do not fear the Lord, you will experience his wrath. You mock at his word. You mock at his commands. You turn your head and ignore and just continue on doing whatever you want to do. Then wisdom says, I'm going to laugh at you when all the things that I promised would happen, happen. All the things that I warned you about when they happen, I'm going to mock you.

Verses 28 through 33, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil. After the calamity, after you've experienced the wrath of God, wisdom is crying out and she says, you will seek for wisdom, but you'll not be able to find it. Again, sin brings us to infancy.

without understanding without wisdom it darkens our understanding according to ephesians 4 18 it reduces our mind to nothing to infancy we don't understand and we continue to walk away from god there's a new testament parallel that you can check out on your own time romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 32 paul talks about things very similar but

But you know, there is good news. We can break the cycle at any time simply by fearing the Lord, receiving and obeying his commands. We can receive all his grace and forgiveness and walk in his ways even when we've experienced a calamity as a result of our own foolishness, as a result of our ignoring the word of God and ignoring his commands. Now,

most of the time we'll still have to face the consequences of what we've done as is said in verse 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies yeah we do have to face the music and deal with the consequences of our spending habits or our our you know things that we've been involved in but by repenting

And getting right with God and receiving the rebuke and the instruction and turning. You can avoid those things next time. Wisdom says at the end, verse 33, but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and be secure without fear of evil. And in summary, if you fear the Lord, you will not have a fear of evil. You'll find safety and security in fearing the Lord and obeying his commands and receiving his instruction.

And that's wisdom. Now, man's wisdom in this world says, man, there's so much to be afraid of and you got to have this here and that here and take care of this and that. Or it doesn't matter. Anyways, just go out and party and have a great time. But the wisdom of God says, put these things in place in your life. Live in obedience.

And you'll find security and safety. And you don't have to worry about global warming. And you don't have to worry about terrorist attacks. You don't have to worry about the market going up and down and all the things that could potentially happen in your life that you could be terrified of. And you don't have to worry about those things. God takes care of them. It's your obedience to him. And he'll go before you. You'll find safety and security in walking with Jesus Christ. Chapter 2, verses 1 through 5 says,

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, if you will cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding. If you will seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Here comes Solomon. He's speaking again to his son, to us as his children.

In light of wisdom's warning, in light of wisdom's call, my son, here's what you need to do. If you want to understand the fear of the Lord, since that's the beginning of knowledge, since that will keep you from all of that calamity and all those things that are in store. If you want to understand the fear of the Lord, here's what you do. Receive my words. Receive my

My instruction, cry out for discernment, apply your heart to understanding, seek wisdom as silver and hidden treasures. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And he says, if you want to understand what the fear of the Lord is, if you want to find out how you can fear the Lord, cry out for knowledge and discernment and understanding. Now, do you see what God is saying? He's he's asking us to acknowledge our need. The fear of the Lord is

is to come to him and acknowledge our need. God, I need wisdom and understanding and instruction. I need you to tell me how to live and where to go and what I should do. It's coming and asking him to be the Lord of our life.

Solomon, he's asking us to recognize because you fear God that you do not know everything and to cry out to him for wisdom and to ask him to speak to you. Understanding if you want wisdom, go to the Lord. Seek him because he is the one who gives understanding. Verses six through nine. For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth.

I'm sorry. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Verse seven. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. Who is it that gives wisdom? The Lord gives wisdom. How does he give it? By his mouth. Verse six. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Essentially wisdom.

The Lord gives wisdom by his word. We find what we hold here, the word of God, to be the instrument that God uses to give us wisdom, to give us everything that we need, that we would walk safely and securely. If you want wisdom, you can have it because God is the one who gives it. So ask him for it. Seek him in his word. Receive his instructions and obey him.

Solomon says he's going to give you wisdom. He's going to be a shield to you. He'll guard your path. You'll understand righteousness and justice. You're going to be well off. You're going to be blessed. You're going to be right on securely, confidently. If you're obedient to the word of God, if you disregard it, if you don't have the fear of the Lord, you will receive his wrath. Oh, but if you receive his instructions correctly,

He's going to put a hedge about you. He's going to protect you. He's going to care. Yeah, we're going to go through things, but he's going to be with us all the way. He's going to carry us through, protect us, provide for us. We'll be able to walk securely in obedience to the word of God. Verses 10 through 19 says,

He goes on to say, when wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you. Understanding will keep you to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and

And who are devious in their paths. To deliver you from the immoral woman. From the seductress. Who flatters with her words. Who forsakes the companion of her youth. And forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death. And her paths to the dead. None who go to her return. Nor do they regain the paths of life. When you get wisdom from God. It will preserve you. It will protect you.

you will find that the wisdom of God gives you everything that you need. When you live your life by God's standards, according to God's commands, you'll find that life works very well. Husbands, when you fulfill your role that God has called you to, that he's commanded you to, you'll find that your marriage will be blessed. Wives, when you are obedient to your role that God has commanded, you'll find that your marriage will be blessed.

Children, parents, when you learn your role, when you're obedient and you apply the things of God's word, you'll find that your life and your relationship is blessed. Employees, neighbors, brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. When we apply the word of God, God takes care of our life. When we apply God's word and live the way he's called us to, we'll find out he's a lot smarter than we give him credit for.

He designed us. He's the manufacturer. He knows how we work. And it's contrary to popular opinion. It's contrary to society and everything that this world tells us. But when we do apply these things, we'll find that God really does know best and that life is blessed. There's great joy and peace when we apply God's word. Here, the author tells us that the wisdom of God will deliver us from several things, specifically from sin.

The way of evil and the man who speaks perverse things. The wisdom of God will deliver us. We need to be delivered because, again, we're easily enticed. We're easily caught up in the ways of evil. We easily find ourselves caught up in the things of this world, contrary to the things of God. Caught up in those who speak perverse things.

Those who deceive and lead astray. It says that their paths of a, I'm sorry, who leave their paths of a brightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who reject in doing or rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and who are devious in their paths. The Lord delivers us from all those things when we receive wisdom.

A wisdom of God keeps us from all of that. It also delivers us from the immoral woman, the seductress who flatters with her words. Proverbs has a lot to say about that. We'll see that in the coming weeks. Those who forsake the companion of her youth and forget the covenant of God, her house, relationship with an adulteress, sexual immorality, it leads to death. And the wisdom of God delivers us.

From the evil man, from the way of evil, from those who speak perverse things, from the immoral woman and the seductress who would lead us astray. We're the seductor for you ladies. Those who would lead us astray from the things of God. The wisdom of God delivers us from those things destroying our lives. Verse 20. So you may walk in the way of goodness and keep to the paths of righteousness.

That's the purpose. The wisdom of God delivers us from those things that we might live in the way, walk in the way of goodness. You want to walk in goodness and be blessed? Keep to the paths of righteousness by receiving the wisdom of God. God's commands are for our good.

Verses 21 and 22, he says, for the upright will dwell in the land and the blameless will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut off from the earth and the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. We have a choice. We could be the upright and blameless or we could be the wicked and unfaithful. Which will you choose to receive the wisdom of God, to receive his words and his instruction, his guidance, his commands for life?

Or will you decide that your own ways are better, that you know best, that you can get away with it? You need to be careful. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells the parable of a wise and a foolish man. Wise man built his house upon a rock. The rains come, the storms come, the house stands. Foolish man builds his house upon the sand. The rains come, the storms come, and the house is wiped away. And Jesus says the difference between these two men is the parable, what he's speaking about is those who hear God's word,

The wise man is the one who does it. The foolish man is the one who hears and doesn't do it. We have a choice. We've heard. We have it in our laps. If you're holding a Bible that you're borrowing from the church, take it home with you. You have one now. You have it there. It's the word of God. You have the choice. Receive it. Follow it. Apply it. If we don't, we're like foolish people.

Then building our houses upon sand. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We saw the example of Solomon. He had all the wisdom. He was living right next to the temple. There all the time, performing all the things, doing all the right religious things. But he turned away from God because he forgot his own instructions. He failed to read and apply his own commands.

And he disobeyed the word of God. Let's learn to fear the Lord by calling upon him, by crying out to him and seeking him daily in his word. And then James 1.22 says, Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Be a wise man or woman. Fear the Lord. Hear his word and obey it. But no, if you choose not to, if you're disobedient to God, you do not have a fear of the Lord. And if you do not have a fear of the Lord...

you will experience his wrath. We need to turn and repent and receive God's word for our lives. Let's pray. God, what a strong word you've delivered to us this evening. But Lord, we do receive it and we believe it, God. We need to fear you, Lord, not just with a religious reverence where we show you some respect, but God, knowing that you own our souls, that we belong to you.

Lord, and that we're in constant rebellion to you. And so, God, we ask that you would forgive us for our sins. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.